There are few mix-CD series that have stayed as highly esteemed as Balance. Its continued success all comes down to a simple philosophy: trusting the DJ. From the definitive James Holden volume to Joris Voorn’s weave of other 100 tracks into two discs, the hands-off approach has yielded often exhilarating results. Of course, it’s also about who’s at helm. While other series have stagnated from a lack of fresh faces, Balance takes risks. It’s certainly never easy to pick who’ll be next in line.

True to form, the inspired choice of Agoria for Balance 016 has been followed by a dance music figure who comes with an entirely different set of expectations. For many, Timo Maas is still the man who tweaked Azzido Da Bass’s Doom’s Night into a ubiquitous banger and made records with Kelis and Placebo’s chief angst merchant Brian Molko. However, that’s only half the story. After 2005’s Pictures, Maas took a hiatus from music, re-emerging in 2008 not with a chart-hopeful collaboration, but a charging techno monster Subtellite on Sven Vath’s Cocoon Recordings.

In the years since, he has continued to turn out music for dark, druggy dancefloors – all of it made, ironically, at his farm-house in the idyllic German countryside near Hannover. Just as he made no secret of Martin Buttrich’s guiding hand in his earlier productions, his ally now is Italian studio gun Santos, who conveniently has a place across the road.

Where Maas would once be playing cavernous main rooms alongside the likes of Paul Oakenfold, these days his Ibiza buddies are guys like Seth Troxler, Jamie Jones and Clive Henry. It’s a telling shift, and one that should signpost the differences between Balance 017 and Maas of the early 2000s. That said, the German mainstay hasn’t set out to reinvent the wheel here. His two discs are more obviously geared towards dancing than some recent installments, and the mixing is functional and unfussy in comparison to what we got from Voorn or Agoria. But just as DJ T’s groove-laden, housey Fabric 51 wasn’t weakened by the game-changer from Martyn that preceded it, so too is Balance 017 a welcome straight-up excursion.

If the mark of a successful mix-CD is its ability to keep reeling you back in, CD One is the pick of this Balance. Tellingly, Maas opens the mix with two of his own studio efforts; both woozy, atmospheric creations happy to swirl around without a bassline to rein them in. From there, it’s slowburn house via Nicola Jaar’s characterful Time For Us (all the ‘hype’ this young Chilean attracts is so richly deserved) and the warm keys of Dana Bergquist and Peder G. Instead of unfurling nine-minute versions, the DJ works in short bursts of most selections, giving the sense that he’s eager to cover a lot of ground. The rapid transitions are mostly fluid, though, drawing you into the pulse of the mix.

The middle section allows for more protracted, layered mixes. DJ Koze’s remix of Mathia Kaden’s Kawaba fizzes and sways under his own Blume Der Nacht, before spiralling into the jazzy keys of deep house virtuosos Henrik Schwarz and Kuniyuki. The after-hours vibe carries through to the final stretch, with regular shifts in tempo to keep ‘the trip’ Maas speaks of on course. And you can’t go far wrong with Carl Craig’s masterful At Les.

For those who come to rave, the second act dispenses with the steady build of disc one and makes a beeline straight for front and centre. If the first disc is a soundtrack to an ambling train ride, its counterpart is for cruising down the Autobahn in the wee hours.

Maas has called on his Rockets & Ponies artist roster to weigh in on the tracklist here, securing exclusive cuts from Alex Dolby, Adam Port and of course his own Mutant Clan partnership with Santos. It’s heads-down four-to-the-floor all the way, with weighty contributions from Kenny Larkin and The Mole early on. It’s distinctly the sound of a club in full swing – all insistent kicks, loopy groove and sonorous bass.

The Mutant Clan pairing is clearly a fruitful one, as the pair looms large over the second disc. Their heaving Arcadia sets the tone for the acid workouts to follow, and few do it with the heft of Hardfloor, whose Acperience 1 should bring the whole thing to a banging close. Unfortunately that honour goes to Maas’s take on Placebo’s Ashtray Heart; an overwrought track that’s no better in remixed form.

“When the Balance guys asked me, I was quite amazed,” Maas enthused to inthemix this week. “They said, ‘Timo, please be eclectic, be crazy, do your thing. Follow your trip’.” Once again, that confidence has been rewarded.

Balance 017 is out now through Balance Music/EMI. Timo Maas tour dates:

Fri Oct 15 – Perth, Ambar
Sat Oct 16 – Sydney, Chinese Laundry Garden Party
Sat Oct 16 – Melbourne, Brown Alley
Sun Oct 17 – Brisbane, barsoma